Sensex, Nifty end higher among Trump’s Iran deal turmoil

Benchmarks ended higher for the third session on the trot today as strong buying in tech and consumption stocks offset global concerns triggered by the US pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

IT counters spurted after the rupee hit fresh 15-month lows against the US currency, boosting the dollar revenues of software outsourcers.

The BSE Sensex moved up 103 points to 35,319.35, while the wider NSE Nifty finished at 10,741.70, up 23.90 points.

Crude oil climbed to the highest level since late 2014 at $77.07 per barrel after US President Donald Trump abandoned an international nuclear deal with Iran, ratcheting up geopolitical tensions and likely disrupting oil supplies.

Back home, the 30-share Sensex opened weak and hit a low of 35,134.20 on profit-booking in recent gainers amid sustained outflows by foreign funds.

However, it soon recovered to touch the day’s high of 35,404.83, before finally ending at 35,319.35 -- up 103.03 points, or 0.29%.

The 50-share NSE Nifty too moved in a wide range on hectic selling and buying and closed 23.90 points, or 0.22%, higher at 10,741.70. Intra-day, it hovered between 10,689.85 and 10,766.25.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 923.25 crore while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 97.15 crore in Tuesday’s trade, provisional data showed.

“The US decision to withdraw from nuclear deal with Iran added pressure on oil prices while gains in IT index owing to weaknesses in rupee and other stock specific buying led the bourses to close positive.

“Volatility in bond yield will impact companies’ margins which may lead to a cascading impact on earnings expectation,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

Tata Motors posted the biggest gain in the Sensex pack, jumping 2.79%, after the company-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today reported an 11.9% rise in retail sales at 45,180 units in April.

Other gainers were Asian Paints 1.69%, TCS 1.39%, Axis Bank 1.36%, Yes Bank 1.31%, Tata Steel 1.06%, Kotak Bank 0.93%, RIL 0.79%, Bharti Airtel 0.72%, HDFC Bank 0.63%, Infosys 0.51%, L&T 0.38%, HUL 0.25% and IndusInd Bank 0.23%.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma declined 1.02%, followed by ICICI Bank 0.70%, Maruti Suzuki 0.70%, Wipro 0.66%, M&M 0.64%, Bajaj Auto 0.61%, NTPC 0.61%, Dr Reddy’s 0.57% and SBI 0.48%.

Sectorally, the BSE IT index ended 0.74% higher, while teck rose 0.56%, consumer durables 0.46%, capital goods 0.40%, bankex 0.23% and metal 0.11%.

However, power declined 0.57%, healthcare 0.47%, infrastructure 0.37%, PSU 0.36%, FMCG 0.26%, auto 0.22% and oil and gas 0.05%.

In the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap index fell 0.63% and the small-cap index shed 0.13%.

In the global commodities markets, Brent crude oil prices rose by 2.97% to USD 77.07 a barrel and WTI jumped 2.92% to $71.08.

Asian markets were mixed as investors digested the news of the US pulling out of the Iran deal.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.44%, Singapore gained 0.15%, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.44% and Shanghai Composite index inched lower by 0.07%.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.27% and Paris CAC was up 0.07% in early trade. London’s FTSE too gained 0.60%.